


Gifts

by NonBinaryDoug



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid, Hatchetfield Universe - Team StarKid, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Doug as in Mariah's cop not Douglas "Duke" Keane i just felt like i should clarify, Fluff, Mariah characters are good at arcade games, Oneshot, Pizza Pete's, both can be boiled down to cat lovers, claw machines, idk how to tag but Doug is precious and i love them, is Doug's gf Charlotte or Melissa?, self-indulgent Doug content, they all say acab, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:14:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28292934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NonBinaryDoug/pseuds/NonBinaryDoug
Summary: Doug promises Becky Barnes that they'll bring toys to St. Damien's hospital on Christmas Eve, but with all the toys sold out, they have to get creative with the help of Alice and her family.
Relationships: Alice Woodward & Bill Woodward, Deb/Alice Woodward (background), Doug & Alice Woodward, Doug & Becky Barnes
Kudos: 5





	Gifts

**Author's Note:**

> Competitive arcade claw machine gaming but make it ✨festive✨ and ✨gay✨

“Yes!” Doug cheered under their breath as another prize fell into the chute of the claw machine, tacky lights flashing while a victory sound effect blared through the speaker. 

How exactly they ended up at the Pizza Pete’s arcade on Christmas Eve, determined to win enough stuffed animals to fill three tote bags was a bit of a long story. One that all started with Becky Barnes. 

A week earlier, Doug had mentioned that they wanted to do something nice for the community, and Becky wasted no time asking if they wanted to volunteer at the local children’s hospital where she worked.

At first they weren’t entirely sold on the idea. It wasn’t like they had any experience with children, and they weren’t even sure what they’d do, but she promised the kids would love to have someone like an officer to look up to, and suggested they could tell the kids some stories, though Doug wasn’t so sure they wanted to associate themself with all that. But of course, Becky insisted with an enthusiasm that Doug just didn’t have the heart to say no to. Doug decided they would figure something out. 

That something came in the form of an easy to follow plan. The idea was to order some stuffed animals online in bulk, that way they could drop by on Christmas Eve after work, deliver the presents, and still have plenty of time to make it home and have a cozy night in with their girlfriend. It was easy enough, not to mention more cost effective than hand-picking toys and managing to overthink everything. That was the plan, and they had every intention of following through. 

But as life would have it, they were quite busy with work. Almost abnormally so. It was a fact that the holiday season was a tense time for many, but Doug was busier this year than any they could remember. It was only natural that something would slip their mind, but unfortunately that thing was placing the order before it could no longer be shipped in time.

What would have been more ideal was if they would have realized their mistake before Toyzone had sold out of just about everything. Yeah, that was a bit unfortunate. Still, they made a promise and they were going to pull through no matter what they had to do, and so they wracked their brain for anywhere they could find something to bring.

Lakeside Mall wasn’t an option. Despite most stores already being sold out, the place would be swamped and they really didn’t feel like getting off work just to argue over toys with grown adults that acted like children. Their job had more than enough of that with Sam around.

They briefly considered making a short trip to Clivesdale to see if they’d have a little more luck there, but there would be no getting out of there in a timely fashion with all the traffic. There were far too many people coming and going from Hatchetfield for the holidays, and getting caught in the middle of it wouldn’t be doing anyone a favor.

The next idea that popped into their head was certainly a stupid one. It was an impractical, impulsive last ditch effort that had absolutely zero guarantee of success, but most importantly, it was definitely happening. 

They swear it wasn’t just an excuse to go to Pizza Pete’s arcade, this was serious business and they were running out of options. It wasn’t like they had any better ideas, and they just so happened to have a special skill for arcade games. As bad of an idea it seemed to be, it would have to do. 

It wasn’t like the whole thing didn’t make sense. They needed something to cheer up some kids, and Pizza Pete’s had plenty of that. They were sure that despite the popularity of the place, there was just no way they would be cleaned out of prizes. In fact, Doug was confident that they were the only one desperate enough to attempt something like this in the first place.

So there they’d been for the last hour at six PM on a holiday. Truth be told, they were already pretty sick of playing the same claw machine over and over again, but they were determined to make it work. They tried to block out the sounds of the loud machines and equally loud children it an attempt to focus on the game in front of them, and by some stroke of luck, it actually seemed to be working. One of the three shopping bags they brought to carry the stuffed animals was pretty full, almost toppling over, but they still had quite a ways to go before they felt they had enough to bring. 

Looking back, it would have been nicer to bring something more convenient to put the stuffed animals in, but old reusable grocery bags and a box of garbage bags were all they had in their truck, and they had long since realized that foresight was not their strong suit. 

They rested their head against the glass with a sigh. This was taking too long. They reached down, begrudgingly putting two more tokens in the slot when a voice came from behind them.

“Woah, nice job, Officer Doug. What are all these for?” The girl grabbed a stuffed animal off the top of the bag, inspecting it curiously.

“Happy Holidays, Alice,” they greeted, giving an awkward nod to her dad and girlfriend standing beside her. “I’m bringing these to St. Damien’s Hospital. Actually i’m trying to win enough of them to bring, but I’m a little short on time.”

“Dude, why don’t you just buy some? It’s probably way easier and cheaper,” asked Deb, throwing an arm around Alice. 

“I tried. It’s Christmas, everything’s sold out by now,” they explained with a frown.

“Ah shit, that sucks. Here,” Deb dug through her jeans pocket, holding out a fistful of tickets,”maybe this will help you get something from the prize counter.” 

“Thank you Deb, but I can’t accept. It was my mistake. You kids go enjoy your Christmas, and Alice, spend time with your dad.”

Bill gave a smug, exaggerated nod causing Alice to roll her eyes. 

“Wait, so how long did it take you to win all these, and how much time do you have left?”

Doug clicked their phone to check the time. “Uh, it took me about an hour, and I have around the same amount of time left. I could probably stick around a little longer but I just wanna get home, you know?” 

She nodded understandingly. “Can’t keep your lady waiting. Step aside, I got this.” 

Alice poured a cup of tokens into her hand and put them in the machine. “Watch and learn, folks.” 

Neither Doug nor Deb were exactly sure where Alice was headed with this, and Doug was half expecting it to have an anticlimactic end, but to their surprise, she had managed to hook two stuffed animals at once with ease. 

Bill and Deb looked at each other with proud yet amazed smiles, Doug only mouthing ‘holy shit’ to themself. 

“Nice job, Alice!” Bill raised his hand for a high five to which she returned epically. 

“Woah, babe how did you do that?”

Alice smirked. “A magician never reveals her secrets.” 

Deb and Doug stared with raised eyebrows. 

“Okay not gonna lie, that was the first time I ever did that,” Alice burst with excitement, dropping the faux coolness. “I’m usually pretty good at these things, but I’ve never done that before. Anyways now that you can see I’m magic, do you think I can help get plushies for the kids at the hospital?” 

“Sure,” Doug shrugged. “As long as they don’t mind.” 

Bill nodded. “I say go for it! I think it’s a wonderful thing you’re doing, Mx. Doug.”

“Thank you, Bill. What about you, Deb?” 

“Sure, I’m down. We only have a few more tokens so I’ll let Alice do most of the work, but I’m happy just watching her kill it.” 

Deb threw her arm around Alice in support, the sensation causing a blush to spread across her face. 

“Yeah, and I can get more tokens if you need,” Bill offered, already taking out his wallet. 

“Thank you guys, I really appreciate it,” Doug said earnestly. “This might take a little while and I don’t wanna hold you up.”

Despite the fact Alice had volunteered, they still gave her a chance to change her mind. Doug felt a sense of guilt for keeping the girl and her family from their holiday activities, even though they all seemed eager to assist. 

The thing was, asking for help wasn’t a part of Doug’s skill set. In fact, it was a rarity that they were given a helping hand, so accepting help when offered wasn’t something they knew how to do without a fair amount of awkwardness.

Luckily for them, they didn’t have to say another word because Alice simply waved a dismissive hand before dishing out commands. 

“Don’t worry, we got this. Dad, you go get some more tokens and Doug and I will get started. Deb, you can just watch if that’s alright with you.” 

“Fine by me,” Deb said, already taking her phone out not wanting to miss it if Alice somehow pulled off another two-in-one. 

Bill gave a thumbs up before hurrying off to find a token machine while Deb and Doug watched Alice’s next attempt. 

With a careful precision, Alice maneuvered the claw just above a cartoonish-looking stuffed tiger, wasting no time hitting the button to lower it. She held her breath as the claw opened up to wrap around the toy, latching on just tight enough to carry to it chute.

“Seriously babe, how the hell do you keep doing that?” Deb laughed, kissing her girlfriend on the cheek. 

Alice shrugged. “Practice, I guess. My parents used to take me to this restaurant at the mall that had one of these.”

“Did you learn any tips?” Doug asked. “I think I could use some right now.” 

“Hmm,” Alice paused, tapping her chin in thought. “Just go for the plushies that look easy, not that look cool.” 

“Sounds like a good plan.” 

With that advice in mind, Doug and Alice got to work. It didn’t take long to notice how much faster things were going with the help of Alice and her family. Even without Deb or Bill playing along with them, progress still seemed to fly by, and Doug couldn’t deny how much more fun it was to have someone cheering them on as they went. 

It felt nice having Deb and Bill rooting for them as much as they did for Alice, and Alice seemed to be thinking the same. 

“I definitely owe you all after this,” Doug said, looking back at the quickly filling bags that Bill insisted on holding. 

“No problem, dude. Consider it a Christmas gift.” Alice smiled.

“Well-” Deb interjected, “how about you quit your job and we’ll call it even.”

Alice pointed at Deb and nodded as if to say “That too.”

“That’s fair.”

The rest of the space left in the bags was filled quickly after that. It became increasingly evident as Bill silently struggled to keep the toys from falling out. 

“Okay I think that’s enough,” Doug said, sparing Bill as Alice put one last toy into a bag. 

“Mmm, just one more thing.” 

Alice walked back over to the machine, placing two more tokens into the slot with an excited grin. 

Doug followed behind, raising an eyebrow. “What are you doing?” 

“I’m doing you a favor. Now quick, what’s your girlfriend’s favorite animal?” 

“Cats, why?” Asked Doug, the puzzled look on their face remained. 

“Perfect, got it!” Alice clasped her hands together, the claw coming down on a random toy that sat next to a cat plushie, lifting it up only to drop it a few inches away from the chute. 

Ignoring the questioning stares from the others, Alice swiftly put in her two last tokens before pushing Doug in front of the machine. 

“I set it up perfectly. Now you have the perfect shot to get the cat so you can bring it home and tell your girlfriend you won it for her.” 

“What?” Doug sputtered, barely having time to process Alice’s instructions. 

“Hurry! The timer’s going down!” 

Doug quickly grabbed the joystick, focusing all their attention on aiming it the best they could before the timer forced the claw down, clutching the stuffed animal at an angle. They all held a collective breath as the machine carried it slowly, hanging on by what looked to be just a thread, dropping into the prize pit with just a second to spare. 

“You got it!” Alice shouted, this time raising her own hand in a high five. “That was way more dramatic than it needed to be, but you did it!” 

Doug chuckled, pulling Deb and Alice into a hug, and Bill briefly dropping the bags to join in. “Thank you guys. I really do owe you one,” they said softly. 

“I have to get going, but all of you enjoy your Christmas, alright?” 

“Will do, Officer,” Deb said, shaking their hand. “Do you need us to help carry these out to the car?” 

“No thank you, Deb. I got it,” they replied as they slung the bags over their arm. “Merry Christmas, everyone.” 

They made their way back to the truck, opening the door to place the overflowing bags securely on the backseat floor. They hopped into the driver's seat with a sigh. It worked. Their stupid last second idea actually worked thanks to Alice no doubt. They took a look at the cat plushie, tucking it safely behind the seatbelt on the passenger’s side.

They felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for living in a place like Hatchetfield where there are good people who don’t hesitate to help each other. A place where they’re welcomed and accepted. Where best of all, they have someone they love to come home to. 

Reaching into the glove compartment, they pulled out a fuzzy headband with reindeer antlers. They placed the silly holiday attire on their head and adjusted it carefully. Although they could hardly wait another second to see their partner again, they still had one more stop to make.

As they began their drive to St. Damien’s, Doug realized that this was the first Christmas where they had someone to celebrate with since they were a kid, and now they got to bring gifts to kids who might just be feeling as alone as they did. For a moment they wondered what their younger self would think of it all. A younger version of them who didn’t even know their name yet, but spent the holidays alone.

None of that mattered though, because they wouldn’t trade where they are for anything. To have someone so wonderful, who gave as much love as Doug gave her was the best gift they could imagine. Doug truly felt lucky.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays, folks!!! I spent my Christmas Eve writing this even though i'm not a writer because there is a painful lack of Doug content in this fandom and i need Holiday Content(TM) of my comfort character. If you're a Doug stan pls come talk to me i have so many drawings headcanons to share and i swear i'm a better artist than i am a writer


End file.
